A Little More Trust Cpt. 1

Control. To Colfax, it was a precious commodity. Control over his environment, control over his resources, control over every single pattern of his life. He often told himself that in many cases, being in control of his situation was more important than anything else. It tended to make him a cold, calculating person, and the solitary life of a viri suited him to a T.

Colfax heard the signs of the second wave of morning classes getting out. That meant that the halls of the university building would soon be filling with college students. He sighed and glanced at the door of the supply closet. He'd restocked his bag with new safety pins, some string, and some cotton. He stood up and walked to the edge of the shelf, where his grappling line fashioned out of a large safety pin and some twine was still hooked into the plastic.

No one ever came into the supply closet during the day, but it was always better to be safe than sorry. Colfax quickly made his way to the floor, ready to hide beneath the lowest level of the plastic shelving until the stampede outside was over. It was a perfect hiding place; the janitor even regularly left several bottles of cleaning supplies on the floor next to the shelf, creating even more cover for Colfax to use to his advantage. He flicked the twine to free the safety pin, and began to loop it up idly while he waited. They'd be out there no longer than ten minutes, like clockwork.

As always, Colfax was determined to have a completely ordinary day, and so far things were going exactly as they should.

Class ended, and the bustle of students shrugging on coats and backpacks quickly filled the large classroom. Sawyer leaned back in his seat and stifled a yawn, sighing tiredly before sliding his laptop back into his backpack and shuffling out of the small desk. He slung his backpack across one shoulder unhurriedly, in stark contrast to the multitude of students rushing out of the room to get to another class or, better yet, to get some food. Sawyer, however, walked up to the desk at the front of the room, where the professor was busy packing her things into a messenger bag. “Uh, Dr. K?” he said, shifting his feet as he stood in front of her.

She looked up, eyes somewhat distracted before focusing on him. “Oh, yes?” she asked, straightening up. “Sawyer, isn’t it?”

He gave her a grin. “Yes ma’am,” he said, the southern drawl of a Texan slipping its way through the phrase. He dug in his pocket and withdrew a hastily folded, and rather crumpled, set of papers stapled together. “I just wanted to talk to you about this paper I-” His sentence dropped off sharply as, in trying to hand her the paper, he accidentally knocked over a glass she had set on the desk, spilling the beverage all over. Sawyer swore as the professor grabbed her bag quickly off the table, slinging it over her shoulder before it could come to any more danger. “Sorry,” Sawyer hastily apologized, looking down at the mess and wincing. “I’ll clean that up. There any paper towels around here?”

“There’s a supply closet next door,” the professor informed him, pointing to the room on the other side of the wall. “There should be some in there.” She made her way to the door as well, saying, “I’m sorry Sawyer, but I have another class to teach in a couple of minutes. Just… clean up this mess and email me about your paper. We’ll talk next time, okay?” With that she was gone.

In the closet, Colfax waited patiently. He could feel the tremors in the floor of the many students hurrying past, heading to their next destination. Some viri would scoff at him for living so near this many humans; but if there was one thing Colfax could count on, it was that college-aged humans each lived in their own personal worlds. Going unnoticed was easy when they were so busy trying not to get in each other's way.

He was about to venture out from underneath the shelf towards the vent in the back wall when he heard it- the sound of lazier steps, not so concerned with rushing. He ducked back under the shelf, waiting behind a spray bottle of glass cleaner. Colfax's dark eyes narrowed when he heard a sound that definitely did not fit in with how he planned this supply run to go. The handle of the door turned with a metallic click, and in seconds Colfax was no longer the room's only occupant.

The viri practically held his breath, staying very still in his hiding place. This was a scenario he was prepared for; it was why he always got out of sight during class breaks. But still, it was outside of the routine, so he couldn't stop himself from being frustrated with whatever student had wandered in. Wrong turn. The classroom is next door. He could only see the human's shoes from where he hid, but he watched them with unwavering focus, hoping to see them turn and leave the room behind once more so he could go about the rest of his day.

Sawyer stepped into the small supply closet and fumbled for the light switch, turning it on after a few moments. A small ceiling lamp illuminated the space and he let the door shut behind him, muffling the sounds of all the students in the hallway. Glancing around, he spotted a roll of paper towels on the top shelf of a unit next to him. He stepped up to the shelves and reached for them, but in doing so accidentally kicked some of the cleaning supplies on the floor. One of the bottles toppled over and began leaking, spilling out under the shelf. Swearing quietly, Sawyer he grabbed the paper towels and knelt down, wrinkling his nose at the sharp smell of bleach. “I just can’t stop making messes today, can I?” he muttered to himself, tipping the container right side up again.

Colfax silently backed up further when the gigantic shoes moved toward his hiding place. He thought his bad luck would end there, but his eyes widened when the bottle of cleaner was knocked over. The strong, chemical smell of bleach slammed into him like a physical wave, and Colfax stumbled away, covering his mouth and nose in the crook of his elbow. Those fumes would be toxic to a human, and he knew without a doubt that they would be even worse for someone his size.

There was little to no air circulation underneath the shelf. He didn't want to pass out under there, and Colfax's eyes were beginning to water. He stumbled towards the edge of the shelf, thinking that maybe the human would be distracted enough by the task of cleaning up. These conditions were not ideal, but it was a choice between maybe exposing himself and definitely poisoning himself.

Colfax ran out from under the shelf, barely two feet away from the towering human. He thought he might have a chance when his lungs chose that moment to shudder and he coughed. He stood rooted to the spot, slowly turning his gaze to look up at the human crouched so near. His usually stoic face showed nothing but surprise.

Sawyer was about to clean up the small puddle of spilled cleaning solution when he heard a small cough, effectively stopping him in confusion. He hadn’t coughed, he knew; and it had come from the floor next to him. Straightening up he looked down and around for the source of the noise, his eyes immediately widening as he spotted the tiny figure not two feet away from him. It… it looked like a doll, or a large action figure maybe, but he knew it hadn’t been there before. Not to mention the fact that it was standing and looking at him, really looking, with tiny dark eyes as wide with surprise as Sawyer’s were.

Ditching the paper towel, and still trying to process just what exactly might be going on, Sawyer reached a tentative hand towards it. He didn’t exactly know what to expect from this action- reason told him that the little figure would do absolutely nothing, not being alive. Instinct, however, nagged that reason had suddenly decided to take the day off.

Colfax's instinct kicked back into high gear. His gaze dropped to the hand that was now approaching, and he stiffened. No. Logic told him that he was too close to the human to be able to escape it now. Humans were faster and much stronger. It would make little sense to waste energy trying to evade the inevitable.

Logic was quickly crowded out by all of the alarm bells in his head. Colfax turned on the spot and bolted, taking his eyes off the human. He was tall for a viri; his longer legs made sprinting easier. He entertained a fool's hope that he'd make it to the vent in the back wall of the supply closet. The alternative was capture by a human, a thought that sent a rare bolt of fear through his stomach.

A sharp noise of surprise came from Sawyer and he scrambled after it, whatever it was that was currently running for the wall. Lunging forward, he clasped both his hands around it, scooping it up and keeping it trapped in the center of two cupped hands like a child would hold a firefly. He brought his hands back towards himself and sat up, brain going a mile a minute as the feeling of miniscule blows hit the inside of his hands. He wasn’t sure what he would find when he opened them up. It… it had looked like a tiny person; impossible, his brain said, but he knew what he had seen. A man around six inches tall, looking up at him and then all but sprinting away.

Colfax felt a cry of alarm choke in his throat when his feet very suddenly left the ground. It was dizzying to be snatched up so quickly, and he almost didn't recognize the cramped space he found himself in. Hands. He was stuck in the human's hands. No matter how much he tried to pry them apart to escape, he remained quite stuck. His breathing became faster and faster, and though a small part of him tried to ward off the panic, the rest of him was embracing it.

I’m going crazy, Sawyer thought, but the feeling of something still trapped inside his hands argued otherwise. Curious more than anything now, Sawyer took a deep breath and tried to calm his frantic thoughts. Whatever it was, he had it now, and was about to find out just what exactly was going on. Slowly, he brought his hands up closer and opened them slightly, peeking at what was inside.

The light breaking in made Colfax freeze for a second as he whipped his gaze around. He tried to push himself away from the human eyes staring in at him, only succeeding in pressing himself into the giant fingers that held him captive. Colfax kept his focus on the narrow opening in the human's hands, fighting back his urge to cover his head with his arms. Fleeing hadn't worked, and cowering would be even less effective.

That left him one option. Colfax lunged forward and put his hands on either side of the opening the human had created. He strained against the human's strength, trying to make himself more room to slip out and get away.

Sawyer instinctively jerked his head back as the tiny man lunged forward, trying fruitlessly to get out of the small opening. It wasn’t going to happen- Sawyer didn’t even have to try to push back against the efforts of the miniature hands. Wanting to get a better look at this impossible (yet apparently completely real) little person, Sawyer shifted his grip, holding the man around the middle with one hand. He tried to hold him gently, but definitely didn’t give him any room to slip out.

Staring with open awe at the tiny man in his hands, Sawyer looked over every inch of him; not that there were many. He was absolutely amazing- so very real, with an expressive little face and a tiny heartbeat thudding rapidly against Sawyer’s fingers. With his free hand Sawyer reached up and trapped one of the little arms as gently as he could between his fingers, marveling as he ran his thumb over the itty-bitty fingers of one hand. The little guy was just so small, and Sawyer slowly smiled in wonder at the tiny little hands, and tiny little feet pushing against the bottom of his own hand. He couldn’t help it; the miniature person was simply too cute.

Colfax felt his breath hitch as the human effortlessly took hold of his arm. He finally shuddered when he saw a smile forming on the huge face before him, and avoided looking at it by focusing on his trapped arm. He got a notion in his head, a sudden worry that the human was going to tug his limb just to see what would happen. In a valiant effort, he pulled back, trying to wrench his arm free. Thankfully, the human didn't have as strong a grip on his hand as he did around his middle, enabling Colfax to liberate his arm.

He twisted in the human's grip, his hands planted on the much larger hand surrounding him. He pushed as hard as he could, trying to drag himself free. A scowl came to his face as his efforts were rewarded with nothing but sore arms. Still, he didn't relent, even though he knew he was probably just tiring himself out for nothing. One thing he'd always been taught was that a human that got ahold of you would never let you go free again.

As the tinier person shuddered in Sawyer’s hand and wrenched his arm away, Sawyer’s smile faded, immediately turning to a look of concern. “Hey, easy,” he said softly, in what he thought was a comforting tone. He shifted his hands, cupping both of them together so as to not be so constricting around the small man, but keeping one thumb across the little person’s middle like a seatbelt. Lifting him closer Sawyer looked at him earnestly and said, “I ain’t gonna hurt you.” He didn’t know if the smaller person could talk, or would even understand what he was saying, but he hoped at least some of his intentions would get across. He could still feel the little person’s heart thumping madly, and worried that it would hurt itself if it didn’t calm down.

The human's words drew Colfax's eyes back to the giant face. He stopped struggling for a moment, trying to regain some of his composure. It was an incredibly difficult task when he thought about how thoroughly trapped he was. The human held him in place with just one thumb. Colfax managed to modify his expression, showing only a faint wariness, while he thought through the list of things he knew for certain.

He'd had no choice but to expose himself, or risk poisoning by bleach. He'd been seen by a human. The same human had caught him easily. He still had his supply bag, though it had been a little rumpled. He hadn't even broken any bones when the gigantic hands closed around him. Colfax clenched his jaw to think that, despite all of these things he knew, he still had no idea what the human would do. Even if he wasn't lying about doing him harm, Colfax loathed the knowledge that he'd have no control over what happened next.

Colfax sat back in the human's hands, choosing not to fight against the digit that secured him in place. One of his hands gripped the strap of his supply bag in a white-knuckled grip. He turned his gaze away, avoiding eye contact.

Sawyer blinked as the little person stopped struggling, a bit surprised that his words had actually worked. Evidently it – or he, it looked like – really could understand him, at least in part. The little guy sat back in his hands, avoiding eye contact and trying to look composed. His still-racing heart and the tight grip he was holding his tiny bag with were giving him away, however. It was almost endearing how hard he was trying to appear cool.

Without the need to concentrate so entirely on the impossible man, Sawyer was newly aware that he was sitting on the floor of a supply closet, which anybody could walk into at any time- and might, soon, given that he’d left such a mess in the next room over. He felt a bit bad about not cleaning it up, but circumstances were obviously more than a little extenuating. With the little person still in hand Sawyer stood up, thinking through his options. Really the best thing, in his opinion, would be to just walk back to his apartment, which was hardly five minutes from his current location and would at least guarantee privacy. How to bring the little guy without anybody else seeing him, however, was another issue entirely.

Eventually he just looked down at the small person in his hands and said softly, “I’m going to put you in my jacket pocket, okay? Don’t panic.” Sawyer knew that probably wouldn’t help, but hey, it had to be better than just doing it without warning. Carefully, he wrapped one hand around the little guy and slipped him into the pocket of his zipped-up jacket. Once that was done he relaxed his grip on the smaller person but kept his hand there for stability, leaving it cupped around the tiny man and blocking the opening of the pocket. Taking a deep breath, and with one last glance down at his jacket, Sawyer left the small room and walked briskly out of the building.

Colfax tensed up a little when the human stood to his full height. It was alarming to note how tall he actually was; Colfax was certain that the man was bigger than the average human. He frowned skeptically when he received the news that he'd be stuck in the human's pocket. He tried to stop it, to grip the edge of the pocket as the human brought him near. But, just as Colfax had already observed, he had no control over where he went now. At least he hadn't been stuffed in the backpack.

He didn't squirm for very long. As soon as Colfax heard the door to the supply closet open, he froze. The last thing he wanted was for another human to notice his presence. With careful movements, Colfax shifted so that he was leaning closer to the human's abdomen than to the outer edge of the pocket. He snuck a steady hand into his bag, feeling around blindly to take inventory of what he had with him. His all-essential grappling line was still there, as well as the things he'd just raided. He needed something that could help him escape the next moment he got the chance.

He knew he couldn't possibly escape the pocket with the human's hand still practically surrounding him. It would be wiser to be patient. So Colfax gritted his teeth and tried to ignore the pitch and sway of the human's rushed steps. He could wait for an opportunity. Any human could be distracted, even one as fascinated as this one.